The affinity which small children (and even older children and adults) have for water on warm, summer days is well known. One commonly sees children playing with garden hoses and lawn sprinklers on warm, sunny days in the summer, both as a means to cool off and also as a means of entertainment. Children have long been fascinated with the patterns made by a flowing stream of water from a moving water hose, sprinkler or other source.
Another pastime which is perennially popular with children, is that of constructing various articles from construction kits (blocks, etc.) of various sorts. The assembly of some form of structure, even a relatively simple framework, is known to provide children and others with a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction with working with their hands and minds.
However, the above activities heretofore have generally been considered to be mutually exclusive, with construction toys generally not being readily adaptable to use outdoors or with water, and with water play generally not involving any particular need for or mental or manual construction skills.
Accordingly, the need arises for a water toy construction kit which combines elements of both forms of leisure activities for children. The kit must provide a plurality of various lengths of tubing or ductwork adapted for the passage of water therethrough, and must provide further for variation in the water flow and/or other action caused by water flow therethrough, e.g., lateral passages through the side walls of the tubes for sprinkling, clear or translucent tubes with solid elements therein which are moved by water flow, valves for controlling flow through individual elements, etc. The kit must also provide for ease of assembly by small children, without requiring a great deal of manual skill on the part of the assembler. The materials used must also be relatively light in weight, in order to permit ease of handling by small children.